Hoi An

Our hostal in Hanoi had booked our train tickets to and from Sapa.  We told them we had a domestic flight from Hanoi to Da Nang on Monday morning, the same morning the train arrived from Sapa.  We were assured we would be back in plenty of time to catch our flight.

Apparently they booked us on a commuter train.  We slowly crawled into Hanoi when our flight was departing.  I was tired, cold, and stressed out.  The domestic flights weren't terribly costly, but I hadn't budgeted for an additional flight.  We ran to a taxi, sped to the airport, & when the airline employee told me my flight had left, I cried.

They put us on the next flight to Da Nang for no charge and gave us breakfast.  I'm telling you, Vietnam is a wonderful destination.

We flew south and arrived in hot sun.  It felt so good after the wet cold of Sapa!  We found a taxi to take us into the town center of Hoi An.

Hoi An feels like itself.  There are so many cities that now adopt characteristics of one another, or are less distinct due to globalization.  Vietnam has a strong cultural sense of self.  Some of its isolation has helped it retain a knowledge of its own cultural characteristics.  The country has been ravaged by war, but we rarely saw evidence of this.  Vietnamese people quickly rebuild.  In most parts of the country, we were struck by how well people knew their environment & how readily they created needed resources.  Hoi An is one of the few cities that hasn't lost old architecture.  It looks more like pre-colonial Vietnam.

That first morning we eagerly tried a traditional dish of Cao Dai along with two big frosty cups of Vietnamese iced coffee.  I only found the dish of Cao Dai in Hoi An.  Each region offers its own cuisine.  While it's all delicious, the food in Hoi An was my absolute favorite-- light, full of ginger, garlic, and lemongrass.

We found a hotel room for $25 a night that included a buffet breakfast, courtyard pool, reading porch, and romantic mosquito netting.

I've so far bored you with beautiful architecture, climate, and food.  I forgot to mention an important detail.  In Hoi An, tailors will create any article of clothing or shoe for practically nothing.

Throughout town you'll find sample dresses, jackets, suits, and shoes.  Once in the shop you show the design you like or offer a photo.  You select the fabric you prefer.  The staff member measures you to create the piece to your body.  Then you barter on price.  If you pay more, it is likely to be better quality.  You can pay next to nothing but there's no guarantee on quality.  I paid $30 for a wool coat, $7 for flats, and $12 for a dress.  Kevin had shoes made for $12 and a wool coat for $30.  Know your time frame!  If you only have four days, order your clothes on the first day.  That way, if you need any adjustments there's time to make them.

You can always find a good snack in Vietnam.

We rented bikes for $1 a day and headed the 3K to the beach.

If we'd had more time in Hoi An we would have done so much more.  Maybe headed to the Cham Islands off the coast.  Kevin wanted to rent motorbikes to travel to My Lai.

Reluctantly, we pried ourselves away from our favorite corner of Vietnam, and flew south to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon.  If I ever move to Vietnam, I'm setting up in Hoi An.  If I ever run a yoga retreat in Vietnam, we will base in Hoi An.  As my friend Abdul said of Vietnam that before visiting, "it's as though you've never seen green."